Take Your Products to the Next Level with Today’s Powerful LED Lights

The world of lighting is undergoing a major evolution. Next-generation lighting arrives with a long list of demands, including more accurate color rendering, high brightness, high reliability, long life, and energy conservation. LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) deliver – and are well suited for many applications that have traditionally used incandescent, halogen, fluorescent or HID light sources.

With the introduction of technology such as Sharp’s new 35W, 50W, 25W and 15W Mega ZENIGATA LEDs, products that previously required 75W, 150W or 200W incandescent bulbs (or their fluorescent or halogen equivalents as well as HID lamps) can finally evolve, as well. It’s a major product segment that you can now update with LEDs to meet customer and governmental demand for “greener” products. Even better, you can do it all while shining a truer, more aesthetically-pleasing light than that provided by most other energy-saving bulbs. As the technology matures, LEDs’ performance specifications continue to evolve to more accurately render the true “color of life.”

So, why not make the switch? Following are details about a few key aspects of LED technology that makes it an excellent choice for your lighting designs. If you are already building products with LEDs, read on to learn about some features unique to Sharp’s LED modules that may help you up the ante on your products’ performance and ease your design process.

Ceramic Substrate

Sharp utilizes an innovative, fully insulating ceramic substrate. This is an alternative to typical metal substrates, which have a thin dielectric layer that can be easily damaged, resulting in catastrophic LED failure. A metal substrate also enables drive voltages to reach the product heat-sink, which can create a risk of electric shock.

The ZENIGATA’s inert, non-reactive ceramic surface provides optimal heat dissipation without discoloration. The result is low color shift with even lumen output over time – and, ultimately, longer operational life at full performance.

CRI

CRI (the Color Rendering Index) is one of the primary measurements for LED light quality performance, with a scale ranging from 1 – 100. A CRI of 80 or more qualifies as compliant with ENERGY STAR®, a governmental program that has included lighting products into its energy efficiency certification in recent years. All Sharp LEDs meet or exceed 80 CRI.

While it is an important benchmark, CRI alone is not enough for measuring the quality and aesthetic of light. CRI measurements take into account only the R1 – R8 measurements on the Color Rendering Index, which are the least saturated colors in the spectrum.

The full CRI scale includes saturated colors and goes all the way to R15, and positions on the color scale significantly reflect the quality of light we perceive. True, vibrant rendering of reds – R9 on the scale – is one of the key factors in reproducing the rich “color of life” from an artificial light source. Adequate R9 performance is often missing from LED components for lighting applications, even those that advertise a high CRI.

Sharp incorporates a blue LED die with a proprietary mixture of green and red phosphors to ensure that our LEDs deliver the R9 “deep red dazzle.” An accurate rendering of deep reds lends a warm, vibrant visual aesthetic that will help you elevate your lighting products from “efficient” to “unforgettable.”

Design Flexibility

Say goodbye to the limitations of traditional lighting fixtures. LEDs offer a new level of design flexibility. Traditional lighting sources come in standard lamp sizes: long straight tubes, pear shaped bulbs, and others. An LED’s small footprint allows a designer to explore new shapes and mounting configurations, such as curves and arcs. The powerful lighting options in Sharp’s Mega ZENIGATA COB family add further flexibility, allowing use of just one LED in a luminaire.

Sharp COB LED utilize multiple LED die placed in a unique pattern to allow for even light distribution. This can simplify the development of optics that direct the light in a luminaire, and provide an overall better “look and feel” from the light produced.

LED light contains less infrared (heat) than incandescent lamps, eliminating risk of damage from a rise in temperature. LEDs also reduce concern of deterioration or discoloration from ultraviolet (UV) rays, because they have limited emissions in the UV spectrum.

Other LED benefits include easier dimming, instant full brightness (as opposed to “warming up”), and silent operation (versus the buzz of fluorescent ballasts, e.g.). Additionally, at the end of their long life cycle, LEDs begin to fade versus “burning out,” which provides ample time to change out bulbs.

Environmental Benefit

The benefits of LED lights not only brighten your design; they brighten our world. LEDs, unlike most other manufactured lighting sources, are free of hazardous substances such as mercury (Hg). They also convert energy to visible light efficiently.

COB LED

The array (grouping) of LED lights on the surface of the emitter influence everything from a product’s performance and lifetime operation, to its appearance. Sharp ZENIGATA COB LEDs leverage a parallel array and a uniform Light Emitting Surface (LES) to make optical design easier, improve light quality, and allow you to create more elegant products.

Optics and Holders

Sharp ZENIGATA COB LEDs offer maximum design flexibility for holder and optics manufacturers.
Identically sized substrates and package dimensions standardize design across product families (i.e., same-sized LEDs are available with in a variety of wattages, brightness, and other key performance characteristics). A uniform emission area also adds flexibility, and solderless electrical connection and mechanical attachment to heat sinks simplify design.

Power Budget

Lighting is a big factor in electricity cost and energy budget for most commercial buildings, and is significant in other indoor and outdoor applications. LEDs can save precious energy resources, lower operation cost, and allow for more flexibility in a designer’s, engineer’s, or architect’s power budget.

Production Control

Color binning (sorting of LEDs at the factory) is an area that historically has had inconsistencies. Slight variations in the color of light produced between “identical” devices from the same manufacturer – or even the same batch – results in uneven light output and quality.

All new Sharp ZENIGATA COB products are now tested via our new Single Bin, 3-Step process, which eliminates the need for traditional binning. Rather that using the traditional method of testing at 25°C to predict performance at 90°C (very hot), Sharp tests our new LEDs at 90°C to ensure performance to specification in every LED.

Sharp LED Solutions

For a total lighting solution, consider Sharp components such as ambient light sensors, power supply ICs/drivers, and mounting boards. Put Sharp’s 40 years of expertise in LEDs to work in your designs.

Proven technology, dedicated support

Sharp has Pan European and local Distributors (and their FAE’s) in your area available to provide hands-on help with your designs. We support each part with detailed specifications, a reliability test report, and CAD drawings. And because it’s Sharp, you know you are choosing a device with specifications built upon decades of proven experience and innovation.